Willis Raburu: My Boss Humiliated Me, Said I'd Never Be on TV

Citizen TV anchor Willis Raburu pictured during a past news bulletin
Citizen TV anchor Willis Raburu pictured during a past news bulletin
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Citizen TV news anchor Willis Raburu has opened up of a time an unidentified media boss told him that his voice was neither perfect for TV nor for radio.

At the time, Raburu was doing his internship at a station he did not mention and wanted the boss to grant him an opportunity to anchor news.

"You do not have a voice for TV and will never be on TV," Raburu recounted during a show on Radio Citizen.

From Left, Jeff Koinange, Royal Media Services Group Managing Director  Wachira Waruru, Citizen TV Presenter Willis Raburu and Senior Creative Producer Alex Murungi. January 29, 2019.
From Left, Jeff Koinange, Royal Media Services Group Managing Director Wachira Waruru, Citizen TV Presenter Willis Raburu and Senior Creative Producer Alex Murungi. January 29, 2019.
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Raburu narrated that his collegue, Jeff Koinange, was also in the room when his boss made the unsettling remarks but did not utter a word then.

The duo would bump into each other later that day on an elevator and Koinange spoke life to him. He advised not to take to heart what the media boss had said.

"Listen my brother, I heard what that man told you but don't you give up because one day everyone will know your name," Raburu recalled while imitated Koinange's trademark voice.

After the internship, Raburu went back and completed his studies at the Moi University. During his time there, he met former KTN journalist Alex Chamwada who had gone to speak to the students.

Chamwada would help him get in touch with former Royal Media Services Editor-in-Chief Mercy Oburu. He pestered her to a point that he finally got an internship at the broadcaster.

"I was at Moi University and we applied through the school but unfortunately we were a little late, so we had to keep calling the head recruiter at the time, Mercy Oburu, who did not even know us, to constantly ask for a slot. It was Anders Ihachi and myself.

"We insisted until she told us to go for an interview. We left Eldoret that night and were in Nairobi at 4 a.m. ready for the interview that was to be at 8 a.m.," Raburu told Kenyans.co.ke in a past interview. 

Raburu secured a position as an intern and worked hard to realise his dreams of becoming a news anchor.

It was during one of the staff meetings at the station that the editorial manager at the time, Peter Opondo, announced that he would be joining the team as a reporter.

Raburu is now a senior news anchor at the station, who also works as the 10 over 10 show presenter every Friday night.

He has recently has ventured into music releaseing a single titled Kalale with a number Gengetone artistes, a move that has earned him the aspirational title of the 'DJ Khaled of Kenya' since he does not exactly spit bars in the track that was among the top trending videos on YouTube on the day of its release. 

From left to right: Citizen TV journalist Jeff Koinange, Royal Media Services owner SK Macharia and Citizen TV presenter Willis Raburu pictured on December 31, 2018.
From left to right: Citizen TV journalist Jeff Koinange, Royal Media Services owner SK Macharia and Citizen TV presenter Willis Raburu pictured on December 31, 2018.
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